Advertising playing-card.



No. 675,885. Patented lune II, I90l. G. P. DUNCAN.

ADVERTISING PLAYING CARDS.

(Application filed June 25, 1900.)

(No llodol.)

KNOXALL M/IRK.

75 13 Wily/5 40 w: NORRIS vzvms co, Pnovo-Llma, wumucnon. n c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE I. DUNCAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ADVERTISING PLAYING-CARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 675,885, dated June 1 1, 1901.

Application filed June 25,1900. Serial No. 21,481. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE P.DUNOAN, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Advertising Playing- Cards, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which corresponding letters of reference in the different figures indicate like parts.

The object of my invention is to produce a game of cards especially designed for advertising purposes, said game comprising a pack of cards made up of a number of suits or books, each of which is composed of a predetermined number of cards bearing the same matter, but differently arranged, in addition to special matter common to all and a single card bearing onlysaid special matter common to the other cards, said special card upon which the special matter is prominently displayed possessing a different value from that of the other cards of the suit and the playing thereof being controlled byspccial rules, all of which is hereinafter more particularly described, and definitely pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a face view representing five cards forming a suit orbook, and Fig. 2 is a like view showing a second suit.

Referring to the drawings, (t represents a card of a given suit, upon which is printed the name of a company, the name of a thing to be advertised-such, for example, as Ladies gloves words indicating quality or character, such as Best made, and words imparting further information, such as All shades. In the second, third, and fourth cards I), c, and (1, respectively, it will be seen that the same matter appears, but differently arranged, so that some one item upon each card will form a heading for one of the other cards of the suit. Thus Ladies gloves, which forms the second item upon the first card, constitutes the heading for the second, Best made in the body of the first card forms the heading for the third, and so on in relation to the four cards indicated, which constitute what I term the active cards of the suit or book. A special card e, bearing any arbitrary legend or designsuch, for example, as the fanciful word Knoall,- which is likewise printed in agiven place upon all of the other cards of the suitconstitutes the fifth card and serves to complete the book.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a second suit or book of five cards. Upon each of the first four f, g, h, and t, is represented fouritems-viz., the name of a proprietor, the name of a thing advertised, and special information concerning it each of said four cards having a distinct heading taken from the body of the others. The fifth or special card j of the suit bears upon its face the representation of a ball-bearing and the word Trade-mark, which is also found in miniature and in the same relative position upon the other four cards of the suit.

\Vhile I prefer to use four, I do not confine myself to any specific number of the active cards of the suit; but in case the number of said cards is changed the number of items thereon should be varied to correspond, so that the heading for each card may be taken from one of the items upon the other cards of the suit.

The number of books may differ; but I prefer to use ten books of five cards each. The special cards of each book have a conditional value equal to that of all of the active cards of the suit; but the former cannot be used to call from and its potency is only effective after the failure of a player holding the active cards of its suit to call it out, as hereinafter stated.

The game may be played as follows: The cards are first shuttled in the usual way and dealt successively one by one to the several players until each is in receipt of five cards. The remaining cards of the pack are then laid upon the table face downward. The player to the left of the dealer then calls from the body of one of his active cards from any of the other players for a card of that suit having at its head the item called for. If successful, he calls again, and so continues until he fails, when he is required to draw a card from the pack. Should it prove to be the one called for, he can call again, and so continue until he fails, when the next player has the right to call.

\Vhcnevera player secures all of the active cards of a book, he is privileged to call for the special card of that book; but in case of failure the one holding that card may when his turn comes call for all of the remaining cards of that book.

Should a player at any time hold only special cards, he may draw from the pack. The one receiving the largest number of books is entitled to be declared the winner.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the element of chance in the game is greatly increased by the use of the special cards, while the interest is correspondingly enhanced. Moreover, it affords an opportunity for an advertiser to give especial prominence to the advertisement of any specific featuresueh, for example, as a trade-mark, portrait of an advertiser, or special design or legend.

The representation upon the active cards of the special matter shown upon the special card of any given suit serves as a ready means for identifying that suit, and at the same time tends to fix in the mind of the player the prominent characteristic of that special matter.

In the illustrations shown in the drawings I have indicated a trademark in each instance; but it is obvious that any distinctive feature that may serve as an advertisement may be used instead, and I do not confine myself to the use of a trade-mark exclusively, 1

but have only shown it as a feature that would be most commonly employed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim A pack of playing-cards of the class described, comprising a plurality of suits, each suit consisting essentially of a special card bearing upon its face distinctive matter only, such as a sign or symbol adapted to form a trade-mark, said special card possessing an arbitrary value with respect to the others of its suit, in combination with a predetermined number of active cards containing the name of an advertiser, a subject-matter advertised, separate statements concerning said subjectmatter, said items being so arranged respectively upon the several active cards that a different one may form a heading for each of said active cards, whereby the entire suit may be identified by the matter peculiar to the special card, the characteristics of the latter fixed in the mind of the player, and the complexity of the game increased, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 23d day of June, 1900.

GEORGE P. DUNCAN.

Witnesses:

D. II. FLETCHER, Ronnn'r CATHERwooo. 

